Introduction

James Smith was a naval pensioner who lived at Hardington during the 1880s, staying with his wife’s sister. Before moving to Hardington, he and his wife lived at Plymouth and later at Noss Mayo. After his wife’s death in 1887, he returned to Noss Mayo.

Birth

James was born at Broadclyst, Devon, in about 1822, the son of James and Ann Smith. His father was a shoemaker.

Marriage

In 1851, James married Mary Bartlett at Plymouth.[1] She was the daughter of Robert and Sarah Bartlett of Hardington.

Plymouth and Noss Mayo

In April 1861, James and Mary lived at 13 Chapel Street, East Stonehouse, and James was a sailor.

By April 1871, James had retired from the navy, and he and Mary lived at Noss Mayo, a village about eleven miles east of Plymouth.

Hardington

By April 1881, they had moved to Hardington, living with Mary’s sister, Elizabeth Cox.  Elizabeth’s husband, Thomas Gill Cox, had died in 1878.

Mary’s tragic death

Mary died at Hardington on 1 November 1887, aged 67. Tragically, she left their home during a gale, and the following day, two labourers found her drowned body in the river near Bridge Close Farm.[2]

James’s later life

The censuses of 1891 and 1901 show James staying at a boarding house in Noss Mayo run by a widow named Sarah Reeves. He died in 1908, aged 87.[3]

References

[1] Marriage registered Plymouth, Q3 1851.

[2] Western Gazette, 4 November 1887, p.8.

[3] Death registered Plympton St Mary, Q3 1908.